TABLE 3

Comparison of baseline and follow-up visits (absolute)

Item	SEA and COPD				SEA
	Baseline	Follow-up	p-value	Adjusted p-value	Baseline	Follow-up	p-value	Adjusted p-value
Lung function
FVC % predicted	81 (73–92)	92 (76–99)	<0.001	<0.001	77 (60–92)	89 (74–102)	<0.001	<0.001
FEV₁ % predicted	56 (42–69)	70 (53–81)	<0.001	<0.001	62 (44–75)	75 (55–91)	<0.001	<0.001
RV % predicted	141 (112–179)	134 (110–168)	0.005	0.011	138 (105–159)	128 (104–151)	0.069	0.080
TLC % predicted	104 (95–110)	104 (95–114)	0.502	0.502	99 (84–113)	102 (93–110)	0.156	0.169
Blood gases
P_O₂ mmHg	71 (65–77)	71 (67–79)	0.275	0.358	74 (66–79)	73 (67–80)	0.334	0.334
P_CO₂ mmHg	39 (36–41)	38 (36–41)	0.572	0.620	38 (35–39)	40 (37–41)	0.031	0.040
Laboratory
Eosinophils 10³·µL⁻¹	0.6 (0.4–0.8)	0.01 (0–0.08)	<0.001	<0.001	0.5 (0.2–0.8)	0 (0–0.06)	<0.001	<0.001
OCS therapy
OCS dosage mg	10 (5–15)	8 (4–18)	0.665	0.665	10 (5–20)	5 (3–6)	0.002	0.003
OCS therapy, n (%)	23 (55)	20 (48)	<0.250^#	<0.271^#	20 (48)	14 (33)	<0.109^#	<0.177^#
QoL scores
QoL-VAS	5 (4–7)	7 (4–8)	0.047	0.076	5 (3–6)	7 (5–9)	<0.001	<0.001
ACT score	14 (11–19)	19 (13–23)	<0.001	0.003	12 (9–18)	20 (17–23)	<0.001	<0.001
Stair climbing (flights of stairs)	1 (1–2)	2 (1–3)	0.183	0.264	2 (1–2)	2 (1–3)	0.008^¶	0.012
Annual exacerbations, mean±sd	2.0±2.8	0.9±1.8	0.011	0.020	1.9±2.5	0.4±0.7	0.001	0.002

Data are presented as median (interquartile range), unless otherwise stated. p-values were derived using paired t-test, if not indicated otherwise. SEA: severe eosinophilic asthma; FVC: forced vital capacity; FEV₁: forced expiratory volume in 1 s; RV: residual volume; TLC: total lung capacity; P_O₂: oxygen tension; P_CO₂: carbon dioxide tension; OCS: oral corticosteroids; QoL-VAS: quality of life – visual analogue scale; ACT: asthma control test. ^#: McNemar test; ^¶: Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Significant values are marked as bold.